All We'd Ever Need
by cam.shine
Summary: A Fax songfic to 'All We'd Ever Need' by Lady Antebellum. Set four months after Fang left the flock in 'Fang'. Max and Fang still haven't moved on, even though everyone else thinks they have. At night the memories come flooding back and they have to admit the truth to themselves. Rated T because K sounds lame. Oneshot.


**Song: All We'd Ever Need**

**Artist: Lady Antebellum**

**Couple: Max/Fang**

**Disclaimer: Seriously? I am not a balding old guy. No, I don't own Maximum Ride, but thanks for reminding me.**

**Max POV**

_Boy it's been all this time  
And I can't get you off my mind  
And nobody knows it but me_

I sit alone in my room in the middle of the night. Nothing but the sounds of my flock breathing in behind the doors down the hallway breaking the silence.

Four months; that's how long he's been gone. The flock thinks I've moved on, but the truth is I can't even think his name without the wounds opening all over again. I, the invincible Maximum Ride, am broken. Broken because of a stupid jerk who left.

_I stare at your photograph  
Still sleep in the shirt you left  
And nobody knows it but me_

_Everyday I wipe my tears away  
So many nights I've prayed for you to say_

I should've been chasing you  
I should've been trying to prove  
That you were all that mattered to me

The memories he left me with were my best, but I lock them away. Everything that reminds me of him is under a high security vault in the back of my mind. But every night I open that vault, and the memories come flooding back, stronger than ever.

His smell; dark and earthy, and almost unreachable. His eyes; so dark that a single glance left you drowning. His smile, and those rare moments when he would light up and my heart would skip a beat. His voice. His lips. His wings. How he knew me more than I knew myself. _Him._

_I should've said all the things that I kept inside of me  
And maybe I could've made you believe  
That what we had was all we'd ever need_

I should've said something. I should've reassured him that I loved him. That Dylan wasn't an option to me. That I only wanted him. But it's too late now, he left and he's not coming back.

And he already replaced me. With my clone, Maya. I'm expendable to him, there was always two Maxes, and I was never good enough to be his choice. I was never good enough for Fang.

**Fang POV**

_My friends think I'm moving on  
But the truth is I'm not that strong  
And nobody knows it but me _

I look around the room at my sleeping gang. My eyes wander on Maya, a small smile was on her lips as her chest gently rose and fell in slumber.

My head was leaning against the wall behind me as I sat up in my cot, computer in my lap as I finished a blog post. As it uploaded I clicked on my 'pictures' folder.

I only open this folder late at night, when no one will see me. When they can't see how vulnerable I am; because they all think I've moved on. That I don't care about my old flock. They think I don't care about _Max_—my throat caught as I thought her name, because the truth is that I haven't moved on. I'm not strong enough I guess.

_And I've kept all the words you said  
In a box underneath my bed  
And nobody knows it but me_

The first image showed up on the screen of my laptop. Subconsciously I smiled. This picture was taken when we were nine, right before Jeb left. It was just Max and I, looking at the camera and laughing, arms slung around each other's shoulders, the summer light hitting us from behind.

I clicked through a few more pictures, my heart lifting more at each one.

When I got to one particular image I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Max was standing in the kitchen (which was a disaster) holding a pot of what was once mac and cheese. Her hair was out of line, and she looked exhausted. Angel was standing next to her, looking at the brown eyed girl with a sympathetic expression, Gazzy was outright disgusted, I had my hand on the shoulder, suppressing a smirk; and Iggy was full out laughing. I think the picture was taken by Nudge, because she wasn't in the image.

_But if you're happy I'll get through somehow  
But the truth is that I've been screaming out_

Smiling I clicked to the picture, and it was one I hadn't seen before.

Max. And I. Kissing. On the beach.

I squeezed my eyes shut to block the tears that had snuck up on me. Tears. From a picture. I am weak, I am broken.

Slowly I opened my eyes and looked at the picture again, my heart aching. It was hard to breathe.

Quickly I shut the laptop and shook my head to clear it. _No,_ I thought to myself _she doesn't want you. She has Dylan, she's better off. She's happy._ I guess if she's happy then I can live with myself for running away from my feelings. It's true, they were a distraction for both of us, but honestly I was scared too. I didn't know where they were going, and I was opening up to her; even more than usual. I couldn't let my walls down, so I ran.

My eyes slowly went back to Maya. I feel bad for her; feeling like she has to live up to Max. No one could even come close to being as amazing as Maximum Ride. At first glance Maya is exactly the same as Max (aside from her streak of pink in her hair) but she's not Max. And I don't love Maya. At some point I thought I could replace Max with her, that maybe I could use her to move on and fill that Max shaped hole in my heart. But it didn't work. Because she's not Max.

_I should've been chasing you  
You should've been trying to prove  
That you were all that mattered to me  
Oh you should've said all the things  
That I kept inside of me  
And maybe you could've made me believe  
That what we had girl  
Oh that what we had, what we had  
It was all we'd ever need_

I should've told her how much I loved her, how I couldn't live without her. But I lost my chance, she has Dylan. He was made for her.

Maybe someday I'll get a second chance. Maybe in twenty years we'll meet on the cliffs with the hawks. Maybe then I'll gather up my courage and tell her. I'll tell her how much I love her. Because no matter what I tell myself, no matter what mask I put on, Max will always be all I'll even need.

_It was all we'd ever need_

* * *

**What do you think? This is my first story, but I've been wanting to write it for a long time. Constructive criticism greatly appreciated! :-)**

**Fly on**


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